masses
Britishplural noun
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the body of common people
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informal (often foll by of) great numbers or quantities
masses of food
Explanation
The masses refers to a large, general group of regular folks — the common people of a society. If you’re super rich, you ride around in a private jet while the masses take crowded buses. The masses don’t include celebrities, rich people, royalty, or political leaders. The masses are everybody else. People use this term when they need to speak generally about the majority, although it often refers to the lower class. To win an election, a politician must appeal to the masses. Popular movies and music also must appeal to the masses — in other words, they need mass appeal. The word masses is also just plural for any kind of mass.
Vocabulary lists containing masses
Home of the Brave
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"Efrén Divided" by Ernesto Cisneros, Chapters 6–11
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Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They varied factors including the masses and sizes of the black holes, the amount of surrounding dark matter, and the density of that matter.
From Science Daily • May 19, 2026
Cavendish suspended two lead spheres from a wire and positioned larger masses nearby.
From Science Daily • May 18, 2026
He had also brought his bike, which seemed to be the best way to elude the masses.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
Thousands of individuals have invested in private companies such as SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI, using online platforms meant to bring the hottest opportunities to the masses.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
As you get into greatly curved regions of space, bodies’ masses effectively increase, a phenomenon known as mass inflation.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
